Album Moods

The Gone Wait

AllMusic Review
by Richie Unterberger

The Gone Wait had been preceded by roughly a quarter-century of Jandek albums with a roughly similar approach: primitive instrumentation, nonexistent melody, random streams of disturbed thoughts-lyrics, deathbed moan-vocals. When an artist such as Jandek sticks so closely to a certain sound, critics and fans are forced to look for small variations when differentiating the pile of albums from each other. As for what you might find to distinguish this particular effort, there's an unremitting emphasis on low, guttural guitar twang, sometimes sounding as if his instrument might be missing the top strings. Jandek's vocals seem even more despondent than usual, though in a more subdued, resigned fashion than has been his wont on many of his other records. And the songs are long -- only five in all, all of them at least six minutes long, a couple of them hitting the ten-minute mark. It adds up to a release that might be even less commercial than the usual Jandek product, a real (if perverse) feat considering he's one of the most inaccessible artists of his era. And it's something you want to keep well out of audio range of anyone with suicidal thoughts, lest hearing a snatch tip them over the edge. For all its monotony and hard-to-enjoy qualities, though, it's not devoid of some thought and originality, with creepy phrases about going to hell and the like sticking in the mind once in a while.